UK Music Review: Abiade – The Industry & Me [TIAM]

by BB.TV

For those that don’t know, Abiade is a talented UK hip hop emcee and producer hailing from South East London. He has two well received mixtapes under his belt ‘The Warm Up – 2009’ & ‘The Trimmings – 2010’ and has opened for fellow UK hip hop artists Skinnyman, Akala & Skepta plus US chart topper Bruno Mars. Abiade’s latest release ‘The Industry & Me (TIAM)’ promises to be a UK hip hop album that incorporates various elements of different genres of music ranging from UK Grime to Big Band.

‘The Industry & Me’ boasts 14 completely original tracks with production from the likes of Mr. Mitch, Zaheer and others while boasting collaborations from some of the UK undergrounds biggest names in Mr ShaoDow, LeeN, Camouflage Children and more.

With this album Abiade aims to vent some of his frustration as an artist in an industry that is loosing its authenticity while, at the same time proving that commercial music doesn’t mean repetitive & empty music.

Abiade’s ‘The Industry & Me’ is an album that gets straight to the point of introducing the South East London emcee and enunciating his style while displaying a clear sense of progression and diversity throughout.

The introducing tracks ‘The Struggle’ & ‘Abiade’ set the tone of the album perfectly and provide the listener with an instant window into the flippant mind of Abiade while ‘Hollywood’, ‘Alesha Dixon’, ‘So Fly’ & ‘In The Shadow’s (Bonus Track)’ demonstrate an undoubtedly diverse choice of beats and Abiade’s ability to ride them like a pro.

Overall I would say that Abiade has definitely achieved his goals with his debut album ‘The Industry & Me’, successfully proving that as an artist you don’t have to water down content to achieve music that could be considered by a commercial market but I do feel that in search of commercial viability Abiade has opted for some beats that may deter fans of more traditional Hip Hop. With that said, any fan of well thought lyrical content and artistic insight wont be able to help appreciating this conceptual album that sticks to the point throughout its playtime, go buy it!